Confessions
by idle-brit
Summary: Hikaru x Ryo from the Exo-Force. This is a fic I've been wanting to write for a while, but has nothing to do with my main series or one shot fics in this fandom... so, AU? I know pairings aren't everyone's cup of tea, so if you don't like it you're not exactly missing out on much by not reading it.


"Hey, have you seen Ryo today?" Hikaru asked his friends breathlessly. "I've been looking for him everywhere." He leaned against the wall of the training centre, almost bent over double as he tried to regain his composure. Running around Sentai Fortress took a lot more effort than most people imagined, and it didn't help that he was constantly on edge because of the threat of a robot attack that could happen at any moment.

"Y'know, there's this magical new device called a Comlink that could really help you out there." Takeshi raised an eyebrow, trying to hide the surprise on his face. It wasn't often that the leader of the elite team gave the impression of anything but perfection, and yet here he was gasping for air like this was the first time in his life that his lungs had worked.

"He's not picking up, idiot." Hikaru growled back, finally slowing his breathing down to normal and standing up straight "Do you think I haven't tried that already?"

Ha-Ya-To quickly stepped in between them, holding out his hands to keep the teenagers at a distance from one another.

"Haha, I'm sure Takeshi didn't mean to sound rude. Anyway, what do you want Ryo for?" he added the latter part hurriedly, as Takeshi had opened his mouth so he could protest to Ha-Ya-To's statement.

Hikaru cleared his throat, waiting a few seconds before replying. In the most nonchalant voice he could manage, he said "Oh, I just need to ask him about possible upgrades for the Stealth Hunter. Nothing important."

"Then why are you so desperate to find him?" Ha-Ya-To tilted his head to the side, looking at Hikaru in confusion.

Hikaru could feel his face heating up as he failed to think of a valid response, but before his embarrassment became visible to Takeshi and Ha-Ya-To, he spotted the familiar orange jumpsuit of a tech walking round a corner in the distance, and he broke into a smile. Hastily waving goodbye to his friends, he sped off down the narrow street to catch up to Ryo.

"What's up with him?" Takeshi watched Hikaru running away, wondering why he was making such a fuss over finding the purple haired teen.

Ha-Ya-To had a knowing smile on his face, suddenly understanding Hikaru's intentions after seeing him brighten up so much at the sight of the tech. Ha-Ya-To simply laughed at Takeshi's question, placing a hand on his shoulder to steer him away from Hikaru's direction.

"Let's ask him tomorrow. For now, leave him with Ryo."

While those two carried on to their dorm room, Hikaru was still chasing after the tech, deciding not to call out his name as a strange sense of nervousness twisted in his stomach. He continued to silently follow Ryo to one of his workshops, slipping behind a building close by and monitoring the door that Ryo had walked through; because that didn't look suspicious at all.

After a few minutes had passed and no one else entered the workshop, Hikaru took a deep breath to calm his nerves before striding over to the door. He walked into the workshop without knocking as he normally would, but still made sure to 'accidentally' bump into a few tables to alert Ryo to his presence.

Ryo, who was just about to leave the room, turned around to face the pilot, placing the small toolbox he had come to collect back on the workbench in front of him.

"Can you not?"

"…Not? Not what?" Hikaru let out a nervous laugh, which Ryo either didn't notice or chose to ignore.

"Not bump into anything. You are normally much more careful, you must be aware that some of the chemicals in here are extremely corrosive. It would be such a waste to have a bottle of Hydrochloric Acid fall off and start dissolving you."

"Wait, this isn't the lab, you don't have any chemicals in here." Hikaru's head cleared long enough to register what Ryo had said.

"Damn. Well spotted." Ryo grinned back at him. "I was afraid that you would require an incentive to stop being clumsy. That line normally works on Takeshi; he has never questioned me before despite knowing the difference between here and my lab."

"I'm not surprised." Hikaru gave a snort of laughter. He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts, remembering that he had come here with a purpose.

Ryo seemed to think the same thing, and asked him "Was there anything in particular that you wanted from me?"

Hikaru cursed under his breath, regretting not thinking this through. He gave the same weak excuse that he had used with Takeshi and Ha-Ya-To, hoping it would suffice.

"You will be pleased to know that I upgraded the Stealth Hunter the other day after a battle. You should find that the power up speed is slightly quicker; I messed around with the power brick after seeing you had a fondness for tricking the robots by turning your battle machine off and on again. Every time you did that I was worried it would not start up again in time. If that is all, I will be on my way."

Ryo turned to pick up his toolbox again, and Hikaru could feel his heart rate speed up; he was about to miss one of the only opportunities to talk to Ryo alone. He tried to stall Ryo further by darting in front of the tech so he couldn't walk away, and saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"Why weren't you answering my calls earlier?" Hikaru realised too late that he sounded like some kind of needy boyfriend, although he tried to convince himself that he only meant to convey his worry, as Ryo had already been taken hostage by the robots once before.

However, Ryo's train of thought hadn't travelled the same way as Hikaru's this time, and he pulled his Comlink from his pocket to check the screen. He gave a sheepish smile to Hikaru before replying,

"Sorry, I was so focused on working that I failed to realise that it had been ringing."

"That's fine. But don't let it happen again, I – the team was worried about you. You're normally quick to answer."

"Again, I apologise. But from now on I will try to check it more often. Right, I need to be going now." Ryo tried to move towards the door, but Hikaru jumped in front of him, holding out his hands so Ryo couldn't walk past.

"Wait, wait, wait! Uh, so, what were you doing that was so important that you didn't pick up?"

Ryo had started to become slightly irritated at the interruptions, and frowned at the pilot.

"While I appreciate your want to converse with me, I really do have a lot of work to be getting on with and no time for idle chatter. We can always talk later in the canteen, yes?"

"No, no we can't." the nervousness was returning to Hikaru, and he didn't know how to handle the situation without annoying Ryo even more. He was never good at sharing his feelings, and in no time at all, he had gained the reputation at Exo-Force of being rather cold hearted, even towards those he called his friends.

"Why not?"

"It's just that… I just… I really…."

"Hikaru, if you insist on continuing to waste my time, I hope you will take the blame when the battle machines are not double checked before the next battle." Ryo sidestepped the pilot, and made a beeline for the door.

"Look, it's just that I really, _really_, like you, and I just wanted you to know so you could consider us being together in the future; after the war is over." Hikaru hurriedly said, feeling a blush creep across his face. He hoped that would be enough to catch Ryo's attention and stop him from leaving.

"Hikaru, I like you as well but there is no need at the moment to reinforce our friendship, and –"

Hikaru gave a shaky laugh, cutting off Ryo's speech "For a genius, you can be really dense sometimes. You know that, right?"

"What do you mean?" Ryo bristled, not used to anyone questioning his intellect, especially as it came from one of the only people that he could consider close to his level. He had noticed himself acting differently around the blue haired pilot recently, and Ryo had decided that the only possible explanation was admiration towards the older teen as he came top in almost every class.

Instead of giving another reply, Hikaru walked over and grabbed Ryo by his shoulders, pulling the tech closer to himself. He gazed into the startled blue eyes that were only inches from his own, slowly moving down until his sight rested on Ryo's lips.

A sudden fear of rejection filled Hikaru's mind, and instead of his intended plan he lightly gripped Ryo's chin, turned his face, and kissed him on the cheek before letting go of the younger boy. He quickly turned away to hide the fact that his face was becoming scarlet. His heart was pounding in his chest, partly from the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and partly in worry of Ryo's reaction.

He could see it now; the tech being disgusted with his actions and telling Ha-Ya-To, Takeshi, and Hitomi later that evening. It wouldn't be long before the news spread through Sentai Fortress, if Ha-Ya-To had anything to do with it, and the moment it reached Sensei's ears, his piloting career would be over before it really had a chance to begin. Of course Hikaru was aware that dating was prohibited in the Exo-Force, especially between co-workers, but he couldn't face the idea of himself or Ryo being wounded in battle and never having the opportunity to admit the feelings that he had taken so long to understand.

The two boys stood in silence for what felt like hours, Hikaru breathing heavily and awaiting a response, and Ryo brushing his fingers over the area that Hikaru had kissed.

"Is this some kind of… some kind of joke?" the tech finally whispered. Hikaru felt his heart dropping into his stomach. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen.

"No. It's not. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I... oh God." Hikaru roughly ran his shaking hands through his hair. Not only did Ryo not feel the same way, but by the look on his face, Hikaru might have damaged their friendship as well. He _really_ should have thought this through.

"Do you mean to say that you genuinely have romantic feelings for me?"

Hikaru could only nod, afraid that if he spoke again his voice might break and he would burst into tears. Of course it wouldn't be the best reaction, but at this point Hikaru didn't care how childish that might seem.

"Really? Me? The weird genius that looks down on those he deems less intelligent, and prefers to spend time with battle machines instead of humans because they are as unemotional as he is. Someone who can never be one of the famous pilots because all he is good for is fixing and making machines out of sight." Ryo spoke in a low tone, repeating various phrases that he had heard being thrown around in conversation behind his back. "You actually have feelings for someone like that?"

Hikaru felt a weight being lifted off his chest, only to be replaced with a crushing sadness that Ryo had this view about himself. Ryo hadn't thought what Hikaru did was strange, only that he was the one being shown affection. No matter how nervous he still felt, Hikaru decided that making sure Ryo was okay was more important.

"You can't actually think any of that is true." Hikaru exclaimed, slowly walking over to where the tech was standing by the doorway. He was looking at the ground, a purple fringe hiding his face from the pilot. Again, Hikaru gently lifted Ryo's chin to make the tech look at him, and Hikaru felt a stab of sadness as he saw Ryo's eyes filling with tears.

"How can you believe that when you have such close friends who care about you? You know me, Takeshi, Ha-Ya-To, and Hitomi would do anything to help you out, and hope that you'd do the same for us. And you definitely know that some of us have a higher IQ than others." Ryo smiled weakly, and Hikaru continued with more determination.

"And as for not being a pilot, have you forgotten the time you ran out in Uplink and tricked the robots in to thinking you had the information they wanted? Did you forget how the pilots spoke about it for weeks, about how amazing you were? Just because a few jerks said some things about you doesn't make them true, if anything they're probably just jealous of you."

Ryo sniffed a few times, wiping the back of his hand across his face to catch the tears that had spilled during Hikaru's speech.

"Thank you." He managed to say between sobs. "I suppose this reaction also serves to prove that I do have emotions."

"Exactly, that's just what I was going to say. Maybe in less words though." Hikaru grinned, pulling the tech into a tight hug. He wasn't sure how to reproach the subject of his kiss, but thought it best not to pressure Ryo into giving him an answer to his feelings while the tech was in this condition.

However, when Ryo finally pulled away, he was smiling up at Hikaru despite the redness in his eyes and trails of tears left on his face.

"I imagine you would like to address the reason you came here for. Of course, I return your feelings very strongly, but I might not be able to give an answer about the prospect of our future after the war straight away."

Hikaru felt his heart flutter at Ryo's words, not being able to contain himself as he wrapped his arms around Ryo's waist to draw him closer and softly pressed their lips together. They continued the kiss for some time, neither of them wanting to be the one to break away. When they finally did, Ryo looked up into Hikaru's eyes, a blush creeping across his face.

"Actually, I believe that was enough time for me to agree to your request."

* * *

**[A/N – Well… I can't write romance and feelings. But why does this 'chasing someone to ask a question and crying happens' plot sound kinda familiar… *re-reads own fanfics* oh wow such originality. **

**When I got back into this fandom, I didn't really ship anything. But now I really like Ha-Ya-To/Hitomi and Hikaru/Ryo. Possibly Hikaru/Takeshi because I'm a sucker for pairings that start out hating each other. Even though in my series they actually begin as friends, oops.**

**Comlinks are mentioned in the Exo-Force books for communications, but they're totally from Star Wars so I'm not sure if I should use the term…]**


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